Trouser-suspender connecting trolley means for toilet convenience

ABSTRACT

For toilet purposes a novel trouser and suspender connecting trolley arrangement is provided consisting of zipper trolleys that extend along the waistline of the trousers from rear to front, and trolley followers carried by the suspender straps for operation around the hips of the wearer. Each follower includes two opposed, zipper operating slides disposed at a fixed short distance from one another, so arranged that in either direction of operation the leading slide opens the zipper and the following slide immediately closes the zipper, there being no opportunity for clothing to get caught in the open zipper and to interfere with the intended, smooth operation of the follower along the zipper trolley in closing direction.

United States Patent [1 1 Mott TROUSER-SUSPENDER CONNECTING TROLLEYMEANS FOR TOILET CONVENIENCE Inventor: John L. Mott, l l 14 NW.Highlands, P. O. Box 1106. Grants Pass, Oreg.

Filed: June 19, 1972 Appl. No.: 264,344

US. Cl. 2/230, 2/310, 2/315 Int. Cl. A4ld l/06, A4ld 13/02 Field ofSearch 2/230, 310, 315,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 590,298 9/1897 Burke 2/328Primary Examiner-Geo. V. Larkin Attorney-Clarence M. Crews [5 7 ABSTRACTFor toilet purposes a novel trouser and suspender connecting trolleyarrangement is provided consisting of zipper trolleys that extend alongthe waistline of the trousers from rear to front, and trolley followerscarried by the suspender straps for operation around the hips of thewearer. Each follower includes two opposed, zipper operating slidesdisposed at a fixed short distance from one another, so arranged that ineither direction of operation the leading slide opens the zipper and thefollowing slide immediately closes the zipper, there being noopportunity for clothing to get caught in the open zipper and tointerfere with the intended, smooth operation of the follower along thezipper trolley in closing direction.

5 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures TROUSER-SUSPENDER CONNECTING TROLLEY MEANSFOR TOILET CONVENIENCE This invention relates to trouser support forpersons who wear outer garments over suspenders, and who are required tolet their trousers down behind for toilet purposes without removingouter clothing. The present invention is in the nature of an improvementupon the invention disclosed and claimed in my pending application, Ser.No. 174,341, filed Aug. 24, 1971, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,711,867, in thatthe basic operation is the same in principle, but a fundamental weaknessof the earlier arrangement is overcome. This weakness has to do with thefact that portions of garments sometimes get into the opened zippers andinterefere seriously with zipper closure.

It is the purpose of the present invention to avoid this difficulty byproviding each rear suspender end with two firmly connected slidesarranged nose-to-nose for operation in unison, so that as a leadingslide opens the zipper trolley the following slide immediately closesthe zipper trolley, thus preventing intrusion of garments which wouldobstruct return of the slides to their original positions.

It should be clearly understood that the purpose of a zipper when thusemployed is not to permit separation of the follower connected zippercomponents but solely to permit shifting of a follower along the zippertrolley while retaining the follower against accidental dislodgment inany position to which it may be moved.

The union of two slides for operating in this manner in effect amountsto the formation of a single, double acting zipper follower. The neteffect is to provide for operation of the composite slide in eitherdirection without having any substantial length of the trolley unzippedat any time. As in the earlier application there may be two distinctzipper trolleys where the rear suspender ends join far above the waist,or there may be a single, continuous zipper trolley where the rearsuspender ends cross close to the waist. The former arrangement ispreferred and is the only one illustrated herein. At each rear suspenderend a double-acting slide of the kind referred to is employed.

Other objects and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the drawing forming part of this specification,

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary view in front elevation of a I practical andadvantageous trouser and suspender combination embodying features of theinvention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary view in rear elevation showing a zipper trolleycombined with a duplex slide;

FIG. 3 is a view on an enlarged scale in front elevation ofthe structureshown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a greatly enlarged view showing in detail a short length of apreferred form of zipper trolley;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of FIG. 4, looking inthe direction of the arrows; and

FIG. 6 is a view in front elevation of a modified preferred form inwhich the follower consists of two opposed slides made integral with oneanother.

As shown in the drawing, a pair of trousers 10 has two zipper trolleysl2 and 14 disposed to extend within the waistband from the rear of thewaistband around the right hip and the left hip, respectively. Thezipper trolleys are desirably duplicates so that a description of onewill suffice for both.

The trolley 14 comprises upper and lower strips 16 and 18 of suitablefabric. Each of the strips 16 and 18 is permanently connected to theinner side of the trousers waistband, as by stitching 19, from a pointnear the center of the back to a point at the front of the left hip.

The strips 16 and 18 have affixed to their contiguous margins a seriesof metallic zipper fingers 20, the fingers 20 of the two strips beingarranged to be interdigitally united with one another in the familiarmanner characteristic of zippers and to be separated from one another,also in the manner characteristic of zippers.

Each zipper tooth of one strip desirably includes a projecting toeportion 20: which fits within a recess 20r of the heel portion of acooperative tooth of the opposite strip.

The confronting strips 16 and 18 form portions of a trolley along whicha trolley follower 22 may be slid in opposite directions.

The normal zipper trolley follower consists of a single slide whichopens the zipper trolley when slid in one direction and closes thezipper trolley when slid in the opposite direction. The opening andclosing actions may be reversed simply by turning the slide around."

The present zipper, however, is of unique construction in that itincludes on the rear end of each suspender strap 24 a compound or duplexfollower 26 which comprises slides 28 and 30. The slides 28 and 30 areof conventional construction, and they are desirably mirror images ofone another, being oppositely faced. Briefly, each slide is formed witha facing pair of spaced, converging channels, which channels in eachinstance merge into a single channel at the zipper closing end of theslide.

When the slide 30 of either follower 22 is moved toward the right asviewed in FIG. I, it opens the associated zipper, and at the same timethe slide 28, moving in unison with the slide 30, closes the just openedzipper. Alternatively, when the slide 28 of either follower 22 is movedtoward the left as viewed in FIG. I, it opens the zipper and at the sametime the slide 30, moving in unison with the slide 28, closes the justopened zipper.

Put concisely, and as previously noted, the purpose in opening thezipper is only to let the follower pass, not to effect detachment of theparts 16 and 18 by which cooperating teeth 20 of the zipper trolley arecarried.

The forward end of each suspender strap is desirably affixed to aportion of the waistband of the trousers 10 by any suitable means suchas a conventional clamp or clasp 32. p

Each follower 22 of FIGSJZ and 3, however, desirably includes not onlythe two slides 28 and 30 but also a connecting square ring 34 throughwhich the slides 28 and 30 are connected to one another. The slides 28and 30 are pivotally mounted on the ring so that during assembly thering and the leading slide may be turned to one side to an inactiveposition while the other slide is slid onto and along the zipper trolleyfor essentially the full length of such trolley, closing the trolley.When this has been accomplished the hitherto inactive slide is swunginto the plane of the zipper trolley and the movement of the follower isreversed for operating the hitherto inactive slide upon the zippertrolley and causing such slide to close the zipper trolley from thehitherto open end.

When the follower has been thus applied the opposite ends of the zippertrolley are physically closed through the application of suitableclosure means at opposite ends of the trolley member, such, for example,as staples 36.

It is feasible to make the slides 28 and 30 integral with one another,as shown in the composite slide 220 of FIG. 6. When this is done the twotrolley components are first zipped together by a conventional slide andthe composite slide is then applied from either end of the closedtrolley.

The follower in each instance desirably includes a suitable actuator 38,illustratively shown as a leather tab.

With a trolley and follower associated and combined as described thereare never more than two to four teeth of either zipper componentunzipped at any given moment. Even these few teeth are protected againstthe intrusion of garment material by the actuator 38, and the integralcomposite slide or the square ring 34. The ring 34 does not, of course,have to be literally square in form. Desirably, however, it should haveopposed straight legs on which the opposed slides are mounted.

If, as shown in my prior application, the suspender straps cross closeto the waistband, and a single trolley is provided to extend completelyacross the back and around both hips, the rear ends of the suspenderstraps will be connected to one another by a tension member, so thatpulling on either follower will move both followers in unison.

l have described what I believe'to be the best embodiments of myinvention. What l desire to cover by letters patent is set forth in theappended claims.

I claim:

I. A device adapted for use in connecting trousers and suspenders to oneanother, comprising, in combination,

a. a flexible trolley consisting of upper and lower cooperating andcomplementary lines of fabricattached zipper hooks adapted for mountingin opposed, cooperative relation upon the waist portion of trousers, and

b. a trolley follower adapted for securement to the rear end of asuspender strap, said follower includmg b,. a pair of oppositely facingzipper operating slide members and b means securing said zipperoperating members adjacent to, and in fixed relation to one another formovement in unison in either direction along the trolley, and b;. anoperator for said follower; the construction and arrangement being suchthat the zipper trolley is opened by the leading slide member andconcurrently closed by the trailing slide member when the follower isoperated along the trolley in either direction.

2. A device adapted for use in connecting trousers and suspenders to oneanother as set forth in claim 1 in which each slide member is formedwith a facing pair of spaced converging channels, which channels, ineach instance, merge into a single channel at the zipper closing distalend of the slide member.

3. A device adapted for use in connecting trousers and suspenders to oneanother as set forth in claim I in which the means for connecting theslide members to one another consists of a rigid connecting memberbetween the slide members upon which at least one slide member ispivotally mounted, so that, during assembly, one slide member may beapplied, to close the zipper trolley for substantially the full lengththereof, with the other leading slide member swung out of the way andsaid other slide member may then be swung into active position andapplied to close the zipper by an opposite movement of the follower.

4. A device adapted for use in connecting trousers and suspenderstogether as set forth in claim 1 in which means is provided at each endof the trolley in the assembled structure for blocking escape of thefollower from the trolley.

5. A pair of devices as set forth in claim 1 for use in connectingtrousers and suspenders to one another in which the two zipper trolleysare connected to the trousers within the waistband at opposite sidesthereof, and each extends from the rear to the front around opposite hipportions of the trousers, and each of the two trolley followers,cooperative with the respective trolleys, is attached to the rear end ofone of a pair of suspender straps.

1. A device adapted for use in connecting trousers and suspenders to oneanother, comprising, in combination, a. a flexible trolley consisting ofupper and lower cooperating and complementary lines of fabric-attachedzipper hooks adapted for mounting in opposed, cooperative relation uponthe waist portion of trousers, and b. a trolley follower adapted forsecurement to the rear end of a suspender strap, said follower includingb1. a pair of oppositely facing zipper operating slide members and b2.means securing said zipper operating members adjacent to, and in fixedrelation to one another for movement in unison in either direction alongthe trolley, and b3. an operator for said follower; the construction andarrangement being such that the zipper trolley is opened by the leadingslide member and concurrently closed by the trailing slide member whenthe follower is operated along the trolley in either direction.
 2. Adevice adapted for use in connecting trousers and suspenders to oneanother as set forth in claim 1 in which each slide member is formedwith a facing pair of spaced converging channels, which channels, ineach instance, merge into a single channel at the zipper closing distalend of the slide member.
 3. A device adapted for use in connectingtrousers and suspenders to one another as set forth in claim 1 in whichthe means for connecting the slide members to one another consists of arigid connecting member between the slide members upon which at leastone slide member is pivotally mounted, so that, during assembly, oneslide member may be applied, to close the zipper trolley forsubstantially the full length thereof, with the other leading slidemember swung out of the way and said other slide member may then beswung into active position and applied to close the zipper by anopposite movement of the follower.
 4. A device adapted for use inconnecting trousers and suspenders together as set forth in claim 1 inwhich means is provided at each end of the trolley in the assembledstructure for blocking escape of the follower from the trolley.
 5. Apair of devices as set forth in claim 1 for use in connecting trousersand suspenders to one another in which the two zipper trolleys areconnected to the trousers within the waistband at opposite sidestheReof, and each extends from the rear to the front around opposite hipportions of the trousers, and each of the two trolley followers,cooperative with the respective trolleys, is attached to the rear end ofone of a pair of suspender straps.